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Raine (Medieval!AU)
Sir Raine de Hawkins of Windsor was a third son of Reuben Hawkins, a powerful Marcher lord in the Welsh border territories, and Carla de Fiennes du Bos. When his father, 2nd Earl of March was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1397, Raine went with him to Ireland and acted as his Deputy, holding in his name a Great Council at Clonmel. March was charged with subduing the Gaelic clans in Ulster and Munster, but had only limited success in his task. His father's sudden death in 20 July 1398 left the Dublin Government in a quandary, since there were very few men willing to assume the office of Lord Lieutenant, at a time of exceptional political turbulence in Ireland. Richard Wyre, Bishop of Cloyne, proposed that Raine Hawkins should be Lord Lieutenant, both because of his military experience and his ability to retain the loyalty of his father's retinue. In the event King Henry IV appointed Raine's brother, Gareth Hawkins, 3rd Earl of March, as his lieutenant in Ireland on 23 February 1399. The finality of this choice was lessened by some extent by the appointment of Sir Hawkins as Lord Deputy and Lord Chief Justice. Return to England On the appointment of Philip Courtenay as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Hawkins returned to England in 1402. Battle of Grosmont In 11 March 1405, at Grosmont, the Welsh Prince Owain Glyndŵr rose, with the help of his ally and trusted Captain Rhys Gethin, a force of maybe 8,000 men that marched on Grosmont burning the town to the ground. Grosmont was a large and important settlement – only Abergavenny and Carmarthen were larger in the whole of South Wales. Prince Henry, dispatched a force comprising men led by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir William Newport and Sir John Greynder from Hereford to intercept the Welsh force. Raine Hawkins was part of the force that intercepted the Welsh force. They fell on them and defeated the Welsh, the casualties on the Welsh side were heavy; they lost around 1,000 men and capturing Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr and imprisoned in the Tower of London, while Glyndwr’s brother Tudur, Lord of Gwyddelwern, was slain in the field, at the hands of Hawkins. The close family resemblance of Tudur's face briefly convinced some Norman that Owain himself had fallen. Another serious blow was the death of John ap Hywel, Abbot of the Llantarnam Cistercian monastery, a notable supporter of Glyndŵr who was killed during the battle as he ministered to the dying and wounded of both sides. As many as 300 hundred prisoners are said to have been beheaded in front of Usk Castle following the battle. Hawkins himself killed Rhys Gethin, the leader of the Welsh army. Gethin, who Hawkins had bested in sword, pleaded with his life, but Hawkins pulled off Gethin's helmet and stabbed him in the head with a dagger. Hawkins and his brother Gareth, with troops, accompanied the King on his Irish expedition in 1406 and when Gareth was reappointed Lord Lieutenant in 1408, Hawkins went to Ireland with him. Character Hawkins' residence in Ireland ensures that his political role in England is a minor one. His closest relationships in England appears to be with family members, including his brothers, Gareth, Stephen, Miles and James; the Beauchamp family, into which his elder sister, Calitha are married; and Adelaide of York, who he after her husband's death are either betrothed to or lives with as a lover, and have an illegitimate child with. Although the details of his killing of Captain Rhys Gethin show him in a rather sinister light, Hawkins has the respect and esteem of many who knows him, including his father and brothers; many praises him as "a vigorous knight".